Jay Leno gave viewers a special surprise in the latest episode of his YouTube series. Jay Leno's GarageDisplayed the original Mustang race car used in the 1964 Indianapolis 500.
“Every time you think of a speedster, it's a replica, but this is the real speedster. The coolest part about it is that it's real,” Leno says at the beginning of the episode. As he further explains, the muscle car is the exact same car he saw “going around the track” when he was 14 years old and watching it on black-and-white TV.
But that's just scratching the surface of the speedster's storied history. When it debuted at the Indy 500, the Mustang line was so new that the public had never seen it before the race. As Ford Motor Company chairman Bill Ford explained to Leno, it rolled out of the line as number 241 on the first day of Mustang production.
According to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, the Mustang is technically considered an early 1965 model. However, it is commonly referred to as a 1964 1/2 because it was introduced in April 1964, just a month before the Indy 500.
Ford also had a personal connection to the car. While Leno watched the race on television, the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford was actually at the race and watched his uncle drive the car.
Ford also shared some other historical facts about the model. He noted that it was one of three built for the race: a real speedster that was driven, another that didn't make it in time, and a third that was broken up and then scrapped. He also noted that the car had to be modified for the Indy 500 because the regular models sold to consumers couldn't reach speeds of 140 mph.
When the Mustang debuted, it would be the biggest car launch in automotive history, thanks in no small part to the Indy 500. Watch the full episode below for more on the history of the classic car.